Two men who hawk souvenirs to Braves fans filed suit against the city of Atlanta in July, contending that a new law meant to tidy up the city would be their businesses’ death knell.
Stanley Hambrick and Larry Miller, each with three decades on Atlanta’s streets, say the law that forces vendors to rent ornate metal kiosks would put them out of business. “That might as well be my coffin,” Miller said.
Vendors downtown are already in the kiosks. The Turner Field area is the next phase.
Q: What are the main problems with the program?
Hambrick: Anyone with sense knows, if you're paying $1,500 a month rent, you're not going to make any money. We have more than 300 items. We sell caps, T-shirts with players' names, pennants, jerseys, tomahawks, baseball cards, baby clothes with Braves names.
We now use a 10-by-10-foot tent. And they want me to sell all that out of a 4-by-9-foot cube? There’s no way you can get those items to fit in a cube, an ice cube.
Miller: It's an advertising vehicle. You put me inside a box, they sell the advertising on it and make money. And then I have to pay for it!
Q: How did you get into vending?
M: We used to sit on poles surrounding the parking lot (outside the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium) trying to sell merchandise. I remember it took two months to get rid of two dozen T-shirts.
Persistence is one thing. Back then, you had to fight for a location. You had to get out here early. And then I moved up.
Q: I hear you have longtime roots in the community.
H: I was born and raised six blocks from here. They used to call us peddlers. Now we're small-business people. I've been working these streets all my life, and now they're going to come in here and tell us how to do business? It's an outrage.
M: Where the stadium sits, I was born. My grandfather worked on the trains laying tracks. My people go back to Marthasville (Atlanta's previous name). They came in in 1965 and tore down the whole community.
Q: This isn't your first go-round with the city.
M: We got tents, but the city didn't want us to have tents. They didn't want us to have shelter. We had to fight to get shelter.
Then they wanted us to have carts. They did a pilot project with carts. One guy was rolling his cart, and it fell apart.
Q: How are you unique among business people?
M: We're like nomads. We bring everything we need. When we're gone, you'll never know we were here. You have to have fortitude to do this. We come ready for everything: heat, rain, wind, whatever. We're like the postman.
We have just 81 days to make our money. Just 81 days to make whatever money we’re going to make.
H: We provide a service. If we're not here, customers would be hurting. Our prices are at least 40 percent lower than inside the park. We got people looking for us. We get the fans up before they get in the stadium. My customers are urging me to fight.
Q: How is business?
H: It's very tough with the economy. With business, you take a gamble. You buy things that you may not like but the fans may like.
Q: What do you sell that you wouldn't buy yourself?
H: [Laughing and backing away from his last statement] There isn't anything I wouldn't buy myself.
Q: If it doesn't sell, you have, in essence, bought it for yourself.
H: That's right.
Q: What's the best-selling items?
M: T-shirts with players' names.
Q: Which ones?
M: It's still Chipper Jones. When Jason Heyward came in, he was a hot seller. But he cooled off. But when it all fails, Chipper is a staple.
Sunday Conversation is edited for length and clarity.
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